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About ACT Work Ready Communities
Our nation’s global leadership potential lies in investing in our greatest asset: our people. Closing the skills gap is an urgent opportunity to equip them for success in the evolving world of work. ACT Work Ready Communities (WRC) provide the tools and resources necessary to remove barriers to employment, drive economic prosperity, and create life-changing opportunities. Change starts at the grassroots level, by providing a community-based framework that:
- Links workforce development to education.
- Aligns with the economic development needs of communities, regions, and states.
- Matches individuals to jobs based on skill levels.
A community's certification is based on individuals at the county level across the current, transitioning, and emerging workforce earning, and employers recognizing, ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC). The ACT WorkKeys NCRC is a portable, industry-recognized credential that clearly identifies an individual’s WorkKeys skills in workplace documents, applied math and graphic literacy ⎯ skills required for 77% of jobs, according to ACT's JobPro database.
By participating in ACT’s Work Ready Communities initiative, counties, regions, and states are helping:
- Business and industry to know exactly what foundational skills they need for a productive workforce ⎯ and to easily communicate their needs.
- Individuals to understand what skills are required by employers ⎯ and how to prepare themselves for success.
- Policymakers to consistently measure the skills gap in a timely manner at the national, state, and local levels.
- Educators to close the skills gap via tools integrated into career pathways with stackable, industry-recognized credentials.
- Economic developers to use an on-demand reporting tool to market the quality of their workforce.
Community Participation
When your community becomes a Certified Work Ready Community, you can prove the economic viability of your area to location consultants, investors, and other decision-makers.
Learn MoreWork Ready Ecosystem
ACT Work Ready Communities bring together disparate individuals and organizations sharing a common goal: participating in a vibrant and sustainable economy that benefits everyone involved. The Work Ready Community framework provides a set of criteria for evaluating which participants are contributing to this goal and which need improvement.
